Separating apparatus



June 9, 1964 J. A. DAVIS ETAL 3,136,422

SEPARATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 15, 1961 IN VEN TORS \D E 67 JAMES A.DAVI5 A 4135 HAROLD E. HAGERTY United States Patent C) 3,136,422 SEPARATLNG APPARATUS James A. Davis and Harold E. Hagerty, Wiiliamsport, Pa., assignors to Armour and Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 15, 1961, Ser. No. 131,636 Claims. (Cl. 209-82) This invention relates to apparatus for grading products and separating the graded products into portions, according to a variable characteristic of each of said products. For purposes of simplicity, the invention herein described will relate particularly to grading shoe soles according to variation in thickness.

In many industries, the manufacturer is ultimately faced with the problem of separating a random assortment of products into certain grades, according to variable characteristics, such as, weight, size, shape, etc. This problem of grading products is frequently encountered in industries wherein the final product is the result of processing material which by nature is non-uniform. An example of such an industry is the leather industry, wherein leather is processed for various uses, such as for shoe soles.

In processing leather for making shoe soles, after the soles have been cut into the desired shape, it is desirable to separate the cut soles into various grades, according to the variation in the thickness of each sole. Presently, it is the practice to pass the cut soles manually and individually through a machine for measuring the thickness at a desired position on each sole. The measurement appears on a dial which is visually read by an operator, who then manually places the measured sole into an appropriate bin, corresponding to the thickness grade of the sole. It is readily apparent that visually reading and manually placing each measured sole into a collecting bin would naturally result in a high degree of error in properly grading the measured soles. Further, not only is there a great chance of error involved in the present practice, there is also considerable loss of time, labor and money. Therefore, if it were possible to provide apparatus for consecutively grading and separating shoe soles, a highly accurate separation of soles would result. Also, such apparatus would provide a great saving in time, labor and money over the present practice.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide apparatus for accurately separating graded products according to certain variable characteristics.

It is also an object of this invention to provide apparatus for simply and conveniently grading and separating similar products according to a certain variable dimen- SlOIl.

A further object of this invention is to provide improved apparatus for grading and separating products according to thickness.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for measuring the thickness of strips of materials and separating the strips according to such a measurement.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide apparatus for measuring the thickness of shoe soles and for separating the measured soles into various grades.

Further purposes and objects of this invention will appear as the specification proceeds.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one embodiment of the present invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view, in elevation of the grading and separating apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and,

FIG; 5 is a sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG.

Generally, the apparatus includes means, generally 10, for moving products 11 along a path of travel, means, generally 13, for separating the products 11 into at least two portions according to the variation of said variable characteristic, means 13, including at least one member, as 14a, blocking said path of travel for separating the products 11 into a first portion, and means, generally 15, for removing member 14a from said path of travel for separating the products 11 into a second portion.

Means 10 for moving the products 11 in a given path of travel includes belt 16 for carrying a product 11 towards means 12. Motor or drive means 17 moves belt 16 through rotation of contact wheels 18. Means 10 also includes belt 19 which carries the product 11 from means 12 to means 13 for the separating step. Belt 19 is moved by contact wheels 20 which are driven by drive means or motor 21. Switch actuators 24 are positioned on the surface of chutes'25 and cause motor 17 to start when an actuator 24 is contacted by an individual sole 11.

The means 12 for determining the variable characteristic of each of the products 11 include a substantially horizontal pair of rollers 22 and 23, which are in substantial vertical alignment. The upper roller 23 is provided with shaft 27, shaft 27 being rotatably mounted in fixed bearings 28. The bottom roller 22 is provided with shaft 26 which is rotatable in shaft support 30. The support 30 is contacted on its underside by rollers 31 and 32, which are rotatably secured to arms 33 and 34. Arm 33 is pivotable about a fixed point 35 and arm 34 is pivotable about a fixed point 36. Arms 33 and 35 are connected by means of tension spring 37, which causes rollers 31 and 32 to pivot upward against support 30, thereby forcing roller 22 toward roller 23. Referring to FIG. 3, support 30 is also in contact with roller 40 which is rotatably mounted on member 41. Member 41 is attached to pivot arm 42 through spring 43. When support 30 is moved downward, the movement is transferred to arm 42 which is pivoted about a fixed point 44, causing rotational movement of geared portion 45 of arm 42. Geared portion 45 meshes with gear 46 on shaft 47. Gear '46, being secured to shaft 47, causes rotation of gears 48 and 49, which are also secured to shaft 47. Shaft 47 is rotatably mounted in fixed supports as at 50. Gear 48 meshes with gear rack 51, thereby transferring the rotational movement of shaft 47 into linear movement of rack 51. Gear 49 acts as a ratchet wheel when linkage 52 is actuated and causes the end portion 53 to act as a pawl to maintain shaft 47 in a fixed position. Shoe 55 of linkage 52 is positioned about fixed pivot point 56, and upon contact with the sole or product 11, the shoe 55 is forced upward and the linkage 52 pivots about point 56, forcing end member 53 into engagement with gear 49, thereby maintaining shaft 47 in a fixed position.

The means .13 for separating the products 11 into at least two portions include movable members or arms, as 14a, 14b and 140, which normally block the path of travel of the product 11. Members 14.are positioned diagonally across belt 19, in such a manner that as the product 11 contacts a lowered member 14, the product 11 is shunted to the particular chute 25 corresponding to the lowered shunt arm, the arms 14a, b and c are ordinarily movable in a vertical direction, and are secured to shafts 60. Arms 14 pass through slots 61 in support guides 62. Movement is imparted to arms 14a, b and c by solenoid members 63a, b and c which when energized, cause upward movement of shafts 60 and arms 14.

The means 15 for removing the arms or members 14 from the path of travel include not only solenoid members 63a, b and 0, but also include switch actuating members dSa, b and c which are positioned on plate 66 on gear rack 51. Members 65a, b and c, are linearly staggered, as shown in FIG. 5, so that depending upon the extent of travel of rack 51, none, one, two or all three switches 67 will be energized. In other words, the greater the amount of travel, the more switches will be energized. Switches 67a through 67c are in electrical connection with solenoids 63a through 63c. So, if switch 67a is energized, shunt arm 14a will be raised by solenoid 63a or, if switches 67a through 670 are energized, shunt arms 14a, 14b and 14c are all raised by means of solenoid 63a through 670, and the sole 11 will be carried to chute a. The arms 14a, b and c, are not de-ener gized until switch 24 on a chute 25 is energized. Also, a switch 24 will start motor 17, so as to process another sole 11.

In the operation of the apparatus, as motor 17 operates belt 16 carries a sole 11 into the measuring apparatus 12. Motor 17 continues to operate only as long as it is necessary to carry the sole 11 on to belt 19, in order that the forward motion of the sole 1.1 may proceed. As the sole 1]. passes between rollers 22 and 23, roller 22 is moved downward. Referring to FIG. 2, roller is positioned to measure the average thickness of soles having trapezoidal cross sections; For example, if a sole 11 is thicker on the side of roller 32, roller 31 is forced downward more than is roller 32, so roller 22 is tilted with respect to roller 23. Since roller 40 is positioned substantially in the center of support 30, it moves down only a distance that is an average of the distances travelled by rollers 31 and 32. Therefore, measuring means 12 determines average cross-sectional distances. As the sole 11 is carried onto belt 19 and is carried along its path of travel, the leading portion 76 of a sole 11 contacts shoe 55 forcing it upward, causing linkage 52 to rotate about point 56 and forcing member 53 into engagement with gear 49, locking shaft 47 in a fixed position. The distance between the leading edge 70 and the portion 71 being measured between rollers 22 and 23, is an arbitrary predetermined distance. The section 71 is the thickness according to which the solell is being graded. Once the measurement has been made, the shaft 47 remains in a fixed position during the remainderv of the travel of the product 11 between rollers 22 and 23 since end portion 53 engages gear 49. The movement that may occur as the sole l1 continues to pass between rollers 22 and 23 is absorbed by the heavy-duty spring 43.

As the sole 11 is being measured at section 71, the arm 42 is at a particular angle of rotation, previously having rotated shaft 47 by gear portion 45 meshing with gear 46. This rotation of shaft 47 ultimately imparts linear movement to rack 51, and also to switch actuators 65a, 65b and 65c. epending upon the distance of linear travel, no switches will be actuated, or only switch 67a will be activated, or switches 67a and 671) will be activated or switches 67a, 67b, and 670 will be activated. As the switches are actuated, the corresponding solenoids 63a, 63b or 630 are actuated. The actuation may actually be performed by a timer (not shown) which maintains the shunt arms 14a, 14b and 14-0 in a raised position for a given length of time. It is important that no circuits are energized until end member 53 of linkage 52 engages gear 4%. This delay in actuating the circuits may be done by a suitable means, such as a timer (not shown) or a switch (not shown) actuated by linkage 52. Also, since the shoe 55 allows end portion 53 to disengage gear 49 after sole 11 moves on, it is necessary to provide suitablemeans, such as a relay (not shown) or a timer (not shown) to maintain the solenoids 63a, 63b and 630 in an energized condition. After a sole 11 contacts shunt arms 14a, 14th or Me or none at all, it is carried to a proper chute 25 and into suitable collecting means or bin (not shown). As the sole 11 contacts the switch 24, the solenoids are de-energized, and the drive means 17 is started, carrying another sole 11 for the grading operation.

It can be seen that the present apparatus eliminates visually reading a dial and manually placing the graded sole into a proper bin. The present apparatus substantially elim nates the problem of human error and provides a high accurate separation. The apparatus is advantageous in eliminating excess time, labor and expense involved inthe prior practice.

While in the foregoing specification, there has been a detailed description of the apparatus for the purpose of illustrating a specific embodiment of the invention, it is understood that these details of construction may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for grading strips of material according to thickness and for separating said strips into at least two portions, comprising means for transferring said strips along a path of travel, rollermeans positioned along said path of travel for determining the thickness of said strips, said roller means being movable according to the variation in thickness of said strips, at least one switch actuator member being movable in response to the movement of said roller means, means for locking said switch actuator member in a fixed position as said roller means determine the thickness of said strips at a desired position, switch means activatable by said actuator member, and at least one member blocking said path of travel in order to separate said strips into a first portion, said blocking member being removable from said path of travel by said switch means in order to separate said strips into a second portion.

2. Apparatus for grading strips of material according to thickness and for separating said strips into at least two portions, comprising means for transferring said strips along a path of travel, means positioned along said path of travel for determining the thickness of said strips and being movable according to the variation in thickness of said strips, at least one actuator being movable in response to the movement of said thickness determining means, means for locking said actuator in a fixed position as said strips are being measured by'said thickness determining means at a desired position, switch means activateble by said actuator, and at least one arm blocking said path of travel in order to separate said strips into a first portion, said blocking arm being removable from said path of travel in response to said switch means in order to separate said strips into a second portion.

3. Apparatus for grading strips of material according to thickness and for separating said strips into at least two portions, means for transferring said strips along a path of travel, upper and lower roller members positioned along said path of travel for determining the thickness of said strips, one of said roller members being movable according to the variation in thickness of said strips, at least one switch actuator member being movable in a linear direction in response to the movement of said movable roller member, means for locking said switch actuator member in a fixed position as said roller members determine the thickness of said strips at a desired position, switch means activatable by said switch actuator member, and at least one member blocking said path of travel in order to separate said strips into a first portion, said blocking member being removable from said path of travel by said switch means in order to separate said strips into a second portion.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the means for locking said switch actuator member includes a member pivotly mounted over said path or" travel and which is pivoted upon contact with said strips, said pivoting causing said switch actuator member to be maintained in a fixed position.

5. Apparatus for grading strips of material according to thickness and for separating said strips into at least ,1 2 two portions, comprising means for transferring said strips along a path of travel, roller means positioned along said path of travel for determining the thickness of said strips, said roller means being movable according to the variation in thickness of said strips, at least one switch actuator member being movable in a linear direction in response to the movement of said roller means, means for locking said switch actuator member in a fixed position as said roller means determine the thickness of said strips at a. desired position, switch means activatable by said switch actuator member, at least one shunt arm diagonally blocking said path of travel in order to divert said strips having a given thickness from said path of travel and for collecting the first portion of said strips,

g and solenoid means for electrically removing said shunt arm from said path of travel upon the activation of said switch means by said switch actuator member, whereby said strips are allowed to continue along said path of travel in order to collect the second portion of said strips.

References (Jilted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,460,038 Pool June 26, 1923 2,033,645 Parkhill Mar. 10, 1936 2,129,230 ONeil Sept. 6, 1938 2,566,246 Peters Aug. 28, 1951 2,891,667 Truver June 23, 1959 

1. APPARATUS FOR GRADING STRIPS OF MATERIAL ACCORDING TO THICKNESS AND FOR SEPARATING SAID STRIPS INTO AT LEAST TWO PORTIONS, COMPRISING MEANS FOR TRANSFERRING SAID STRIPS ALONG A PATH OF TRAVEL, ROLLER MEANS POSITIONED ALONG SAID PATH OF TRAVEL FOR DETERMINING THE THICKNESS OF SAID STRIPS, SAID ROLLER MEANS BEING MOVABLE ACCORDING TO THE VARIATION IN THICKNESS OF SAID STRIPS, AT LEAST ONE SWITCH ACTUATOR MEMBER BEING MOVABLE IN RESPONSE TO THE MOVEMENT OF SAID ROLLER MEANS, MEANS FOR LOCKING SAID SWITCH ACTUATOR MEMBER IN A FIXED POSITION AS SAID ROLLER MEANS DETERMINE THE THICKNESS OF SAID STRIPS, AT A DESIRED POSITION, SWITCH MEANS ACTIVATABLE BY SAID ACTUATOR MEMBER, AND AT LEAST ONE MEMBER BLOCKING SAID PATH OF TRAVEL IN ORDER TO SEPARATE SAID STRIPS INTO A FIRST PORTION, SAID BLOCKING MEMBER BEING REMOVABLE FROM SAID PATH OF TRAVEL BY SAID SWITCH MEANS IN ORDER TO SEPARATE SAID STRIPS INTO A SECOND PORTION. 